Antonio Tarver

Bernard Hopkins made a vow to his mother to not fight beyond the age of 40, and even briefly retired to keep his word.

Two months before he turns 50, Hopkins will step into an Atlantic City ring Saturday night to face arguably the sport's most devastating puncher, Russia's Sergey Kovalev, in a light-heavyweight title unification bout.

"She would've killed me herself, and I'm not kidding. I wouldn't be on the phone with you now," Hopkins said of his mother, Shirley, who died in 2003 at age 57. "I will always love her, but she had a left hook better than Joe Frazier."

Hopkins recalled that he agreed to fight Oscar De La Hoya in 2004 only because it...

Related "Antonio Tarver" Articles

Bernard Hopkins made a vow to his mother to not fight beyond the age of 40, and even briefly retired to keep his word.
Two months before he turns 50, Hopkins will step into an Atlantic City ring Saturday night to face arguably the sport's most...